Data collection procedures are appropriate and very important for this study because it is the procedures that will be used based on the type of survey that was taken also based on the age group surveyed for pertinent information involving the research process. The appropriateness of the data collection procedures is based upon the eating habits of the children; the survey demonstrates that the children with poor eating habits are the children who also suffer from childhood obesity and have problems with their weight (Hooker, 2010).
Because the subjects that were being researched were children, the appropriate steps taken should include parental consent and also onsite parental supervision; the identities of the children should remain anonymous at all times. Based on the outcome of the research, no harm or negativity should come to any of the participants. The anonymity of the children was of uppermost concern so that no child would suffer from negative stereotypes from having an overweight condition; no reports or communication contained personal names or identity of the children (Hooker 2010).
The reliability of the test method is extremely high because all of the results of testing are based on objective measurements of weight and diet. The validity of the research is centered on the fundamentals of the research, such that the growth associated with childhood obesity and the unhealthy conditions of the children directly relates to a lack of exercise and improper diet.
According to the CDC (Center for Disease Control, 2010) reports state that three in every five African American and Latino children as well as one in every three Caucasian children that is born in the 21st Century will suffer from childhood obesity and other health related diseases before they reach adulthood (cdc. gov, 2010). The tools that are used to conduct this research can be cross referenced, documented and dated.
Data analysis procedures re appropriate because the information reported was gathered in an unbiased survey where raw data was analyzed; the research study is also appropriate because it aids in demonstrating health conditions and permits for the study of the data (Murphy, 2007). Out of the 10,000 children observed during the research study, the statistics demonstrates that children with poor diet and exercise are prone to suffer from childhood obesity and other health related conditions associated with overweight issues.
The hypothesis is based upon the research data collected by the statistical information that proves children who eat healthy and get proper exercise are less likely to suffer from childhood obesity and other related health problems The key distinction between quantitative and qualitative research data in a nutshell is that quantitative research produces measurements and numerical results; quantitative research develops information or numerical data that can be translated into numbers and convey statistical conclusions while qualitative research generates non-numerical data; qualitative generates hypothesis or questions and are normally in the beginning of the research (Murphy, 2007). The findings of the study conducted shows that a correlation exist between healthy diets and the subsequent weight loss in obese children who were part of the study; therefore changing from unhealthy, fried, and processed meals to a more healthy, nutritious diet resulted in weight loss of the children that were tested.
The strengths of the scientific merits are that a vast population of children that were researched over a wide geographical area that out of 10,000 surveyed the numbers shows that a healthy diet and proper exercise resulted in weight loss of the children surveyed. Weaknesses could have been a pre-existing medical condition and or the impact of hereditary traits on overweight children.
The major limitations of the scientific merit of this study are the amount of time given for collecting samples and giving the analysis. If there was a broader time frame some of the results could have ended differently; an example would be that children in the age range that was surveyed may have been able to outgrow some of the overweight conditions; a weakness is that the results of the test may not have given a true assessment of the children surveyed based on the points cited (Murphy, 2007).
The research question asks “what effects do the fried, processed, meals served in schools have on school aged children”? The findings prove that poor diet leads to unhealthy, overweight children; so the findings does support the research questions that poor diet does contribute to childhood obesity and other health related issues such as diabetes, hypertension, high cholesterol respiratory and orthopedic problems. In conclusion, the contributing factor to childhood obesity can be determined by the regulation of diet and exercise in school aged children; in order to see our younger generation succeed, taking the early steps to ensure and provide knowledge in regards to a healthy lifestyle should be readily available.